The COVID-19 pandemic largely put a halt on travel in 2020, but many people still aren’t in a hurry to get out of town. Even those willing to travel aren’t spending phenomenal amounts of money, which can’t be good for the travel industry.

                By                    Jennifer Taylor

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Of those who haven’t vacationed, 52% have no plans to do so until 2022 or later. Of this group, 28% reported having no plans to enjoy a leisurely trip in the near future — 2022 included.

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When they do finally travel again, 36.8% of respondents said they plan to spend $1,000 or less on their next vacation. Even worse for the travel industry, 14.4% revealed they expect to spend $500 or less.

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The biggest obstacle keeping people from traveling is cost, as 36.4% of those surveyed cited it as the top reason for staying home. A close second, 31.2% named a COVID-related reason — safety (12.8%), travel delays/restrictions/lack of availability (12.4%), vaccination status (6%) — as the main driver of their lack of vacation plans.

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Even if money and COVID weren’t an issue, 50% of respondents said they would stay in the U.S. — including those who cited Disney or another amusement park as their ideal vacation destination. This is interesting, because it shows half the population isn’t even planning hypothetical travel abroad.

Results revealed younger people are the ones driving travel right now. More than 64% of respondents over 65 years old are not planning on traveling in the near future, dropping just slightly to over 60% in the 55-to-64 age group.

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Of those who have vacationed, 41.2% of respondents revealed they spent $1,000 or less on their trip. Impressively thrifty, 16.8% said they spent $500 or less.

Unfortunately for the airline industry, more than half — 55.6% — of people traveled to their destination by car. Additionally, 30.20% of respondents were mainly inspired to take their trip because of historic flight (13.6%) and hotel (16.6%) discounts, which isn’t a sustainable model for the travel industry as a whole.

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A glimmer of hope for international travel, those who have vacationed were much more likely to choose a destination abroad — if money and COVID weren’t an issue. However, 35% of respondents still chose a U.S. destination — including Disney or another amusement park — as their top place to visit.

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Different Reports Offer Various Travel Outlooks

Nearly three-quarters — 72% — of Americans are planning to travel in the next 12 months, according to the report. In the short-term, 66% will take at least one summer trip.

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One similar finding is a preference for domestic travel. In the next 12 months, 60% of consumers will travel within their home country, compared with just 27% with plans to travel internationally, according to the report.

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In June 2021, AAA also shared promising results for Independence Day travel — covering July 1-5. More than 47.5 Americans were slated to travel, making it the second-highest travel volume on record for the holiday weekend.

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Of the top 10 destinations for the holiday weekend, nine were in the continental U.S. — Kahului, Hawaii held the tenth spot on the list. This heavy preference for domestic travel is on par with GOBankingRate’s findings. Notably, the top two cities on the list were Orlando, Florida and Anaheim, California — home to Disney World and Disneyland, respectively.

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Only time will tell how quickly the travel industry will rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors like the Delta variant and additional COVID-related restrictions put in place could discourage vacationers, so stay tuned to see how this plays out.

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